A little Dallas, a little Washington, a little Phoenix, a little Washington. But a lot of Chicago. Always Chicago. If Kobe Bryant is going to get traded anytime soon – and nobody seems inclined to tap the brakes on either of the two locomotives speeding toward each other – it apparently will be to Chicago.

Then again, we were fairly certain that if Kevin Garnett were to be traded, the Windy City was his landing spot, as well. And Pao Gasol was as good as gone from Memphis, too, if you’ll recall.

Yet if you’re Bulls GM Jim Paxson, what’s the urgency? Sure, if the Lakers are inclined to take Ben Gordon, spare parts, a bloated contract to balance the scales and a future No. 1 pick or two, OK.

But if the Lakers are asking for Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, draft picks and licensing rights to Michael Jordan … well, thanks but no thanks.

And this is all relevant to the Pistons because the Bulls – no worse than equal to Boston as their most credible challenger in the East – stand a chance to take a great leap forward if the Lakers cave to pressure and take 70 cents on the dollar for Bryant from Chicago.

(The footnote to this whole story is that Lakers owner Jerry Buss created the mess by blabbing during training camp that he was willing to listen to any and all offers for the guy most think is the NBA’s flat-out best player. If he’d have bitten his tongue, the storm had a genuine chance to blow over. But when he stamped a virtual “for sale” sign on Kobe’s forehead, Buss’ superstar – who’d give a battery of psychoanalysts a lifetime of work – essentially dedicated himself to going elsewhere and making the Lakers rue their choice.)

It is almost certainly nothing that would entice Joe Dumars to enter the bidding. He likes his team just fine as is and believes that with Jason Maxiell, Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo, he has a youthful core that will ensure no dramatic dropoffs as his familiar veterans begin to pass through the pipeline.

But he’ll be monitoring every move, probably hoping that Buss begs forgiveness and reels in somebody like Jermaine O’Neal to pacify Bryant in the best case, or that Bryant at least stays in the Western Conference – pretty much anywhere but Chicago at the expense of not much more than Ben Gordon and a promising kid or two who don’t figure to factor into the 2008 championship chase.

By all indications, the Lakers won’t do the deal unless Luol Deng is included – some sign of intelligent life in LA, at least – and Chicago is willing to do it. It’s Bryant, apparently, who won’t OK the trade – and Kobe has the NBA’s only no-trade clause, wouldn’t you know – if Deng won’t be his teammate in Chicago when he gets there.

I see his point. If Chicago trades both Deng and Gordon for Bryant, are the Bulls really any better than the Lakers he’ll vacate? Kirk Hinrich is not primarily a scorer and nobody else on Chicago’s roster comes close to fitting that description, so Bryant would find himself equally starved for credible decoys in such a scenario as he is as a Laker.

Gordon becomes fully expendable in a Bulls lineup that includes Bryant, but Gordon as the centerpiece of the trade under almost any circumstance should be a non-starter for the Lakers. He’s due a big raise and even his own coach, Scott Skiles, still muses openly about whether Gordon would be better served coming off his bench. He’s an explosive, unconscionable gunner capable of putting up 20 in any quarter, but when his shot is wobbly he offers nothing of significance in any other category.

So that could be a fatal snag in a Bull-Lakers deal for Bryant unless a third party is involved. The deal only makes sense for the Bulls if Gordon is included, and if you’re the Lakers nothing much about Gordon makes your pulse race. The thought of Bryant and Deng together in Chicago, on the other hand, would turn the stomachs of 14 Eastern GMs queasy, even if it thinned out Chicago’s crowded frontcourt.

Could some combination of Andres Nocioni, Thomas and Noah plus Gordon be attractive to the Lakers? Is there any credence to the notion that the Lakers would want Ben Wallace in the deal? How creative can Paxson get in finding a third trade partner to facilitate the deal without having to sacrifice Deng?

That’s the thing Dumars and his peers will watch most closely: Can the Bulls somehow get Kobe without losing Deng? In an NBA season already brimming with intrigue and possibility, the Kobe Bryant watch won’t be pushed off the front page anytime soon.